1971–72 National Football League (Ireland)
# 1971–72 National Football League (Ireland)

The 1971–72 National Football League was the 41st staging of the National Football League (NFL), an annual Gaelic football tournament for the Gaelic Athletic Association county teams of Ireland.

Kerry beat Mayo in the final for the second year in a row.

## Format

### Divisions

* Division One: 16 teams. Split into two groups of 8.
* Division Two: 16 teams. Split into two groups of 8.

### Round-robin format

Each team played every other team in its division (or group where the division is split) once, either home or away.

### Points awarded

2 points were awarded for a win and 1 for a draw.

### Titles

* Teams in Division One competed for the National Football League title.
* Teams in Division Two competed for the National Football League Division Two title.

### Knockout stage structure

In the Semi-Finals, the match-ups were as follows:

* Quarter-final 1: First-placed team in Division One (A) v Second-placed team in Division One (B)
* Quarter-final 2: Second-placed team in Division One (A) v First-placed team in Division One (B)

The final match-up is: Winner Semi-final 1 v Winner Semi-final 2.

### Separation of teams on equal points

In the event that teams finish on equal points, then teams were separated according to points average(goals scored divided by goals conceded).

## Division two

### Tables

**Group A**

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | Aver | Pts | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Longford | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 106 | 58 | 1.828 | 14 | Qualify for Knockout Stage; promoted to Division One of the 1972–73 NFL |
| Roscommon | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 123 | 52 | 2.365 | 12 | Qualify for Knockout Stage; promoted to Division One of the 1972–73 NFL |
| Carlow | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 99 | 84 | 1.179 | 8 | |
| Clare | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 70 | 81 | 0.864 | 7 | |
| Limerick | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 84 | 96 | 0.875 | 6 | |
| Wexford | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 83 | 93 | 0.892 | 5 | |
| Wicklow | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 65 | 104 | 0.625 | 2 | |
| Kilkenny | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 68 | 130 | 0.523 | 2 | |

**Group B Table**

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | Aver | Pts | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Cavan | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 97 | 47 | 2.064 | 12 | Qualify for Knockout Stage; promoted to Division One of the 1972–73 NFL |
| Westmeath | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 109 | 81 | 1.346 | 10 | Qualify for Knockout Stage; promoted to Division One of the 1972–73 NFL |
| Monaghan | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 76 | 60 | 1.267 | 10 | |
| Tyrone | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 60 | 61 | 0.984 | 8 | |
| Louth | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 76 | 75 | 1.013 | 7 | |
| Armagh | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 72 | 89 | 0.809 | 4 | |
| Donegal | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 64 | 99 | 0.646 | 3 | |
| Leitrim | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 73 | 115 | 0.635 | 2 | |
